


Magic Transfer

by snailsrightsactivist



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Nothing too graphic or gory, but watch out if that's a problem for you, there's detail of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-05 02:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14607081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snailsrightsactivist/pseuds/snailsrightsactivist
Summary: Nichole is a friendly young witch living in the country with her familiar, Grape, and her livelihood consists of making and selling potions and other such things. She is brought out of her peaceful routine when she discovers some unfinished  business of her mother's that needs to be taken care of, or every witch in the land could be in grave danger.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I edited this for spelling and grammar one (1) time and I definitely missed a bunch, so please point out any mistakes you spot!

A rolling field of hills stretches out across the east side of the country. It’s a warm day with a soft breeze pushing through the trees and past the structures in its way. A gentle curl of wind brushes against the legs of a girl who is tending to her garden. The black fabric of her dress and the warm tan of her skin are a stark contrast to the blossoming green all around her.

The mint plant she’s kneeling in front of is dotted with unhealthy spots and she frowns in sympathy for it. With a wave of her hand and a quiet murmur, the spots clear up and the plant stands a little taller, as if filled with new confidence. She smiles in satisfaction and surveys the rest of the plot. 

The other plants look right as rain and she stands and removes her gardening gloves. Her charm to keep away vermin hasn’t worn off yet, but she makes a mental note to prepare the materials for a new one. She doesn’t want any moles or rats chewing up her crops, except for the one she already has. She stays outside for a minute longer to bask in the lovely weather and take in lungfuls of sweet air.

Her name is Nicole and there are few things she loves more in the world than the freedom she feels when she merely stays in place and surveys the open land around her. She works and lives at home and it’s a quiet, cozy life she’s got for herself. She doesn’t need to travel to feel enchanted with the world around her. 

Of course, there are days where the sight of the world around her is not enough to satisfy her. She gets that from her mother, she thinks, when she remembers how much her mother loved to see the world and meet new people and learn new things. There are days when she yearns to feel winds from different lands on her skin, to get her materials and ingredients from the source instead of vendors.

But Nicole can only shake her head to be rid of those thoughts again. She has a home to protect and a garden to look after plenty of work here. Besides, she thinks glumly, she knows how cruel people can be, especially to strangers. There was no need to leave her comfort zone and put herself in danger of being attacked, verbally or physically, by unkind people who might hate her simply for existing.

Today shouldn’t be that type of day, she decides as she stands. She walks through the door of her cottage and swaps out her sun hat for her classic witch’s hat. It rests at an angle on her head and she hears excited squeaks from the kitchen. Through the door connecting the kitchen to the reading room runs Grape.

Grape is a plump, happy, sweet little rat, much like any other. But Grape, unlike any other rat, is Nicole’s familiar and best friend. And because of his ties to her, Grape has managed to live for fourteen years and counting, which is about seven times longer than other rats. As he scurries up to her, he nearly skids across the floor in his speed. 

She laughs at her silly little rat and kneels down to extend a hand. He hops onto her open palm and climbs up her arm all the way up to her shoulder. He chitters excitedly all the while and Nicole runs a finger down his back.

“Hi, buddy. What’re you in such a rush for?” She asks. He squeaks in response and stands on his hind legs. “You hungry? Look what I got!” She pulls a nice pea pod out of her pocket and presents it to him. Instead of tucking into it like she expects, he swats it away with his long, pink tail. “How rude!” She huffs and picks the pod up off the ground, only a little offended.

But he ignores it when she offers it again. He jumps off of her arm and runs in mad little circles around the chair and table legs. Nicole’s brow wrinkles with concern.

“Oh no,” she crouches to inspect him, “did you get into the potion pantry again?” She hopes not. It was unpleasant for both of them when Grape had sprouted bat’s wings that he kept for a full two weeks. But his fur is it’s usual shade of gray and he doesn’t appear to be shivering or growing. He is merely panicked.

“Did you see a cat? Was that it?” He stands on his hind legs again and hops in place. “A… was it a dog?” He runs over to the basement door in the other room and scratches it’s wood panels with his tiny paws. She opens the door and peers inside. Nicole closes her eyes and focuses to create an orb of soft light, the size of a tangerine, to illuminate the dark room.

When no animal intruders make themselves known after a few minutes, she dissolves the light and looks to Grape with confusion. He looks perfectly healthy and there were no predators around. What could possibly have gotten Grape into such a frenzy?

“Oh, I wish I had some leftover honeysuckle! Then I could make a simple potion that would let me understand whatever you’re trying to tell me.” In response, Grape rolls around on the ground like a toddler and squeaks some more. “The shops will be closing soon and I couldn’t make it there fast enough. I promise I’ll go for them first thing in the morning, buddy.” She scratches his belly and gets him to calm down a bit. 

“For now, I have a lot of work to do and not a lot of daylight left to do it.” And so Nicole goes to the kitchen and begins stirring, grinding, and boiling up various plants, crystals, and animal parts. She reads off of the day’s orders and makes several potions, powders, and charms for clients who will be expecting them tomorrow. She wipes sweat off her forehead after she’s finished and washes her hands and begins to make supper. 

She eats a small chicken pot pie with a raspberry tart for dessert and a mug full of cool water. Try as she might, though, she can’t convince Grape to eat a single crumb of it. Poor little guy. It must be serious if the rat with the endless appetite is turning down a good meal. She tries to play with him to take his mind off of whatever troubles him, but still he is frazzled.

Eventually, he tires himself out and falls asleep on the rug. Nicole moves him to his nest before she gets ready for bed herself. After a few minutes of unease, she falls into a fitful sleep. She does not dream often, but when she does it is mostly about flying through clouds or singing with the plants in her garden or riding around on Grape as if he was a horse.

Tonight, however, she has a dream that isn’t a dream at all. Though the edges of her vision are blurry, the scene unfolding in her mind’s eye is too clear, too precise to be made up by her subconscious. Nicole sees a cave that she’s never seen in her life. Before her stands a hooded figure whose face is obscured by the poor light of the cave. She raises her hands at them, but notices that they are not her own.

Though they look younger and more nimble, she recognizes the skin tone and rings as her mother’s. Nicole is not in control of what her mother is doing. She only watches on with tense fear as the figure before her raises a hand and prepares a ball of dark blue static. The figure aims and launches, but Nicole’s mother is faster. She catches it in her hands just as it is about to combust, suffering only minor burns on the palms of her hands.

She murmurs something through clenched teeth and the ball changes color to indigo and grows in size. She expertly hurls it back at the figure, who does not dodge it in time. The figure is knocked to the ground with a groan and lies on the ground, twitching in pain as static crawls across their body. Though Nicole does not know what is going on, she feels her mother’s relief and urgency as if it were her own. 

She wastes no time as she runs around the room, gathering objects and hastily shoving them into a small, open chest on the ground. She seals it and takes one look back to the figure’s unconscious form, and hesitates. Nicole feels bitter tears roll down her mother’s face before a bump from inside of her brings her back. She looks down and sees her mother’s belly, big with child, and wonders how she hadn’t noticed the baby kicking sooner.

“We’ll be safe, soon.” She says as she rests a hand on her stomach. She walks out and faces the mouth of the cave. She raises her sore hands again and takes a deep breath, focusing her energy to two big spells. First, a tendril of magic flows out of her palms and onto the figure, which ceases their convulsing, but not their breathing. Next, she stretches her arms out and brings them together slowly, breathing heavily all the while. 

The mountain rumbles and the rock seems to grow over the opening of the cavern, covering it completely and naturally, making it look as if there had never been a cave in the first place. She lets her hands fall and her knees nearly buckle beneath her. She pants for air and looks around her. The vast night sky hangs above her and from her place on the mountain, she can see so much of the country in every direction. 

She checks for any passers-by before she makes her way down the mountain, clutching the chest close to her side and resting a hand over her stomach. She considers herself lucky to have finished that before she went into labor. She only hopes that her luck lasts long enough that she will not be forced to give birth, on a treacherous mountain in the dark with no supplies and no midwife.

There’s a tugging at her neck that pulls Nicole out of her mother’s perspective and into the waking world. The vision around her dissipates and she’s back in her bed, in her cottage, with the first ray of sunlight shining through her window. Nicole takes a moment to collect her senses when she notices the loss of a familiar weight.

Fear spikes in her heart when she reaches up to her neck, only to find that her mother’s necklace is not there like always. She looks around the room in a panic and her eyes catch the glint of the bottle of the necklace by the doorway. And there stands Grape, holding the silver chain in his little mouth. Nicole gapes at him like a fish.

“Grape! What in the world are you doing?” Grape turns tail and runs out her bedroom door. She leaps out of bed and runs down the hall after him with increasing dread. Already she can feel her powers weaken as she spends more time apart from the necklace. “Give it back! Please, Grape!” She turns a corner and sees Grape turn back to look at her before he runs into the open basement, which Nicole was sure she had closed.

Down the stone steps and all the way to the back, she follows Grape. Finally, he stops in front of a dusty tarp and stands on his hind legs to squeak at her. As soon as the chain is out of his mouth, Nicole snatches it up off the ground and hastily fastens it around her neck. She sighs in relief when her strength returns to her and fixes Grape with a stern look.

“Grape, what’s the meaning of this?” She crosses her arms and waits for an explanation that he can not give verbally. Instead, he hopps down and tugs the tarp away with his teeth. “You’re-” She starts but does not finish when her eyes fall on the object underneath the tarp. Though it’s weathered and has rusty hinges, it’s the very same chest from her dream. She’s starting to believe that it was much more than a dream as she kneels down to inspect it. 

On its own, the bottle of her necklace lifts up above to the chest. It presses against the strange lock and the shimmering particles inside look as if they’re moving towards it. Suddenly, the bottle obeys gravity again and the chest snaps open. The objects in her vision had been taken too quickly for her to get a good look at them, but she sees them now. 

There are three separate scrolls of parchment in different sizes, and tied with different things. And beneath them is a wand of cedar wood, with a curved pattern on the handle. She looks down at Grape, wondering how he could have known about this. 

“You tried to tell me yesterday.” She said. “I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to understand, buddy.” He twitches his nose at her and she picks him up. They make their way up the steps and into the reading room, where she sets the chest down on her desk. Nicole sits and reaches for the largest scroll. She opens it and sees that it is a map of the country, with her mother’s handwriting marking each location. Then she picks up the smallest scroll, and sees that the page has written on it a spell. It’s not one she’s ever read before, and she does not know what it does. 

Finally, Nicole reads the medium scroll. It is a letter written for her from her mother in her grand, swooping letters. And the letter says:

To my dear daughter,

I want to hope that this message finds you in good health, but I truly hope that it never finds you at all. If you are reading this, then I want you to know that I love you and I never meant for you to get involved in my mess. Ah - but “mess” is such a gross understatement. As you have probably seen from the memory I prepared for you, I have not been perfectly honest with you about the events in my past.

The person you saw in the cloak was real, and I did defeat them. But, despite their betrayal, I could not bring myself to end their life. I merely put them under a sleep spell that should last eighteen years. I’m not sure why I picked eighteen. I was in such a panic, it was the first number I could think of and the smallest one I had the power to accomplish.

You see, this person was a non-magic user who has always been jealous of the power that we witches wield. This person was not satisfied with the magic that they could teach themselves, and so they sought more of it. 

I am one of the last of a very powerful line of witches. Somehow, this person found out who I was and managed to gain my trust and steal secrets about the witch community from me. They discovered something taboo that I had thought forgotten: Magic Transfer. It is the act of siphoning magic from a magical being and repurposing it. It was once done for righteous reasons: to save lives and restore things thought to be ruined forever. But some chose to twist it into something wicked and unnatural.

I found out what they were doing too late, I’m afraid. Seven witches in our community had gone missing and I discovered that this person was behind it. They were planning to steal the witches’ magic from them. Magic Transfer is always taxing on the person giving, no matter how much the owner decides to give. But this person took their magic greedily and robbed them of their energy and their lives. 

Thankfully, I caught this person before they could absorb the magic themselves. Stolen magic is unstable and volatile, so this person stored the magic away somewhere hidden in the cave until they could find a way to take it for themselves. I was able to stop them before they could, but in my haste and devastation, I did not find those witches’ magic. 

It was my fault this cruel being had done these things, and so I was blamed and banished from my hometown behind the mountains. I remember you once asked me if you were the reason we never visited any family. I never was and never will be ashamed of you, my dear. It pains me that I could not tell you that I am the reason we don’t make contact with other witches. When I tried to explain to them what they had done, they did not listen. To this day, they think I am solely responsible for their deaths

But I digress. If you are reading this note, then I am not there to finish what I have started. If you are reading this, then you and many other witches are not safe, and I have failed once again. I was the only one who knew what this person was planning and what they had done. But now, you do, too.

I can’t forgive myself for putting this responsibility on you, but the least I can do is prepare you for what is ahead. Inside this chest is a map that will lead you to the mountain, where you will find the cave they are sealed in. Though, even now, they may be free. I also left my very first wand. It’s not as fancy as other wands, but it is sturdy and you will need a focal point to channel your energy. 

And then, there is the spell I have created that will fix everything. It will give you the ability to strike this person down and free the magic that they have stolen, so that those fallen witches may know rest. I can not force you to take on this mission, to fix my problems. But now you are the only one who knows what danger is coming for the witch community and only you know how to stop it. 

It is imperative that you stop them before they can possess a power that is too great for one being. I will guide you however I can through your journey, I promise I will. And I can’t imagine how much this all frightens you, and how much you must hate me. But please, you must save this land from a danger it isn’t aware of. 

Other witches will not listen if you tell them what I’ve written here, but I urge you to find whatever allies you can to aide you in your travels. I know that you are a reserved girl, but you must reach out to someone you can trust to bring with you.

Finally, I leave you with this: my unshakeable faith in you. From the moment you took to magic, I saw great potential in you, my dear. I would not have given you this task if I did not whole-heartedly believe that you could see it through. You are kind and witty and stronger than you realize. Believe in yourself as I believe in you, and I guarantee that you will not fail. Make haste, dear! If I have timed this all correctly, you have only two week’s time before this person awakes and makes their nest move!

You will know what to do and how to do it when the time comes. I will be there to guide your hand when you raise it against evil.

Eternally hopeful,

Nadia Charis

Nicole finishes reading and drops the parchment onto her desk. A flurry of emotions rush through her. There is grief, confusion, terror, and anxiety. But none of the hatred that her mother thought would be present. Nicole owes everything to her mother. Her life, her powers, her happy childhood and wonderful home. She was wracked with guilt almost everyday whenever she used her magic.

It had been her mother who had put her magical essence in the bottle on the necklace and had given it to Nicole to keep after she had passed. She used the last of her energy on her deathbed to accomplish this, and Nicole was conflicted in accepting her last gift. For as long as she could remember, Nicole had yearned to have the magic that she was not born with.

Nicole wanted nothing more than to do half of the incredible things that her mother could do. And though she didn’t want to be a bother, she was vocal about her most burning needs. And though it cost her a few extra months of life, her mother left Nicole with her greatest wish. Nicole’s mouth forms a grim line of determination as she stands from the desk and gets to work, with Grape at her heels.

Her body moves on its own while she sets her mind to the task ahead. She tidies up her house one last time before she leaves. Nicole writes a letter to her closest neighbor, the baker, asking that she comes to care for Nicole’s garden for her in exchange for endless free favors and produce when she returns. She does not say “if” she returns because she knows that if she dwells too much on the gravity of the situation, she may very well back out. 

She takes a sleeping sack and a tarp in a pack along with some essential ingredients from her kitchen. A hefty coin bag is tossed in as well, so that she can pick up what else she needs along the way. She’ll need to travel as light as possible, she knows, so she spends the better part of an hour preparing and casting a pocket spell on her home and connecting it to her hat. 

When she’s done, she allows herself one last walk around the inside of her cozy cottage. Every crack, corner, and smudge on the wall is as familiar as the back of her hand. And if she does not succeed, she will never see them again. 

“Well,” she says, “it’ll be much worse than that, if I don’t finish this, won’t it?” She looks down at Grape, who has been trailing behind her since she read the letter. He looks up at her with eyes brighter than those of any rat she’s known as his whiskers twitch. He had been a gift from her mother, and her closest companion since childhood. He is magic, she knows, but in light of today’s events, she wonders just how magical he is.

“You’re a fantastic familiar, Grape. The best a witch could ask for.” She picks him up and pets his head, which he greatly appreciates. “If I can’t find anyone else to help me out, it won’t matter. Not when I have you, you clever little thing!” She uses her baby voice at the end before she sets him on her shoulder, where he curls up and holds on. 

She checks to make sure she’s got her essentials before she steps out of the house and locks the door behind her. Nicole takes a few steps into her yard and turns back to take in the sight of her home, one last time. She turns her head away after a moment, before she can change her mind. A burst of quick laughter hits her as she walks down.

“Boy!” She puts a hand over her mouth. “All I wanted was a little change of pace, but this is insane!” She shakes her head. “But mom always told me to be careful what I wished for, I guess.” Her voice is much more steady and cheerful than how she feels. “Better take care of that.” She says. “Negativity isn’t going to do me any good if I want to be sure of myself and my - my abilities.” She gulps and tightens her grip on her bag. There was no time to waste.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nichole makes a new acquaintance and together they head into the woods. But there is more to the forest than meets the eye.

The market isn’t terribly far from her home, and she makes it there a few hours before sunset. It’s one of the busiest times of the day and she struggles to squeeze past the sea of people to get to the booths she’s looking for. It takes some maneuvering, but she manages to buy the dried roots and seasonings she’ll need. 

There’s so much bumping and shifting from the people all around her, it really does feel like she’s caught up in a current. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches some movement. A man cries out and cradles his hand close to himself as a blur moves past him and into the crowd. Best to avoid a potential brawl. Nicole tugs her hat down over her head and adjusts her grip on her bag as she makes her way out. When she reaches a less dense part of the town, she lets herself relax. 

Suddenly, an arm reaches out of a narrow ally way and yanks her inside before she can so much as blink. And before she can give a shout, a hand clamps over her mouth.

“Don’t scream! I’m not going to hurt you, I just wanted to-” the person hissed as Nicole bit down on their fingers. They drew their hand back and tried to shake off the pain. “Damn it! I’m trying to help you! Save those jaws for later.” The person holds out a bag and Nicole recognizes it as her own coin bag, which she notices is not on her person. She snatches it back.

“How did you get this?” She asks with suspicion. The person puts their hood down and rolls their brown eyes. It’s a girl, probably around Nicole’s age, with black hair, brown skin, and a faint scar across her cheek.

“I stole it from some gentleman who I saw take it from you. He didn’t even have a good grip on it afterwards, all I had to do was whack his hand and grab it” She smirks and Nicole can see that one of her canines is missing. “He did it so carelessly, I was surprised you hadn’t noticed sooner.” Nicole’s face flushes.

“I wasn’t - you - he,” she struggles for words. “I’m so sorry I bit your hand, but you really should have gotten my attention some other way!” The girl winces around a smile.

“Didn’t mean to scare you, but I couldn’t just go up to you out in the street. To tell you the truth, I shouldn’t be out here during the day. A lot of people would pay a pretty pence for my capture, so it’s best I stay hidden.” She explains. “I didn’t want to go out into the open and risk getting recognized.”

“Oh.” Nicole says. “Well, then… that’s understandable.” she tries for a smile and extends her hand. “My name is Nicole and I’m very grateful to you.” The girl blinks in surprise before breaking into her own smile and accepting Nicole’s hand.

“I’m Ichtaca and I appreciate your gratitude.” she laughs and holds up her bitten hand. “Though you do have a funny way of showing it.” Nicole winces when she sees the marks on Ichtaca’s skin. She reaches out and holds her hand between both of hers.

“Again, I’m really sorry about that. Here, let me just…” she lifts her hat up off of her head and Grape hops off of her head and onto her shoulder. Ichtaca gasps.

“How long has that been under there?” She asks, pointing a shaky finger to Grape. 

“Since I left home.” Nicole answers as she rummages through her bag. She murmurs a spell and smiles when her hand reaches the familiar glass. A jar of salve is produced from the hat and she opens it up and scoops the blue gel out with two fingers. She rubs some onto the marks of Ichtaca’s hand as she quietly speaks and incantation that Ichtaca does not hear.

“So you can pull animals and medicine from your hat, huh? Do you usually do that for parties? What’s your stage name?” Her talking ceases when the salve tingles on her skin and absorbs into it. She gapes at her hand, which now shows no sign of injury. 

“The only animal under my hat is Grape. Here.” Nicole says as she drops the jar back into her hat and puts it on her head. “And the hat thing is just for a little while. I wanted to travel light so I sort of put a little pocket spell on my hat that lets me grab whatever I need from my house. Pretty cool, huh?” Ichtaca’s eyes widen.

“You’re a witch?” she breaths. Nicole smiles.

“What gave it away? Was it the magic hat?” She pets Grape. “Or was it the familiar?” Ichtaca laughs.

“Okay, that’s really cool.” she points to Grape. “I thought witches had cats for familiars?” 

“Mostly, yes.” Nicole says. “But I’m allergic. And Grape is much more suited for travel than a fat old cat.” Grape squeaked in agreement. 

“That’s certainly convenient.” Ichtaca says. “Where exactly do you need to go, anyway?”

“The mountains.” Nicole answers and points east. “I’ve got some… business to attend to. I was just in town to pick up some essentials.” 

“Are you going there all on your own? Have you done it before? That’s not exactly a leisure trip, miss witch.” She points out.

“Oh, it’s just me and Grape, right now.” Nicole says. “And no, I haven’t been before. I don’t really get out much.” Ichtaca grins.

“What gave that away, I wonder? The part where you got robbed within minutes of arriving, or the fact that the mountains are that way?” She points west. Nicole sputters.

“Ah - I - oh, leave me alone!” she half laughs, half whines. “I don’t know anybody who knows how to get there. I would have figured it out eventually.” Ichtaca gives her an appraising look before she speaks. 

“What if you didn’t have to figure it out on your own?” She asks. 

“What do you mean?” Nicole asks. 

“Well, those mountains are said to hold an awful lot of ore in them.” Ichtaca says. “Few people have collected any of it without dying on the way there or the way back.”

“I thought mining in that mountain was outlawed?” Nicole says.

“It was, yes. But… what if we made a deal?” Ichtaca proposes. “I could take you to the mountains so you can take care of your business and in exchange, you turn a blind eye while I shove as much gold into my pack as I can carry.” Nicole ponders for a moment.

“Well… I would appreciate any help I could get to make it there. And I don’t see any wrong in taking from the mountain, since nobody really owns it. If you took me there, though, you would be putting your life in danger.” she says. “Are you alright with that?” Ichtaca shrugs.

“I’ve got not much to lose and a lot to gain from this. I’m all for it!” Ichtaca looks at her with an encouraging grin. “What do you say?” Nicole looks to Grape, who only twitches his nose in a show of his opinion. Ichtaca seems to be a trustworthy person, at least so far. And her mother’s letter did say to recruit allies for her trip. There isn’t a lot of time for her to mull it over, anyway. She gets one look at Ichtaca’s hands clasped in front of her and the choice is obvious.

“I think that sounds like a marvelous idea!” Nicole says and places her own hands over Ichtaca’s, which catches her off-guard. Nicole keeps a hold on one of her hands as she drags Ichtaca out into the street to leave town. 

“Wait, right now?” Ichtaca pulls her hood over her head. 

“No time like the present!” Grape, who is as trusting as Nicole, hops onto Ichtaca’s shoulder where he makes himself comfortable. Ichtaca tries not to visibly flinch at the new proximity.

“Ah, ok, yep. It’s there now.” She fixes her eyes forward. “Well, were you aiming to score some riches from the mountain, too?”

“No, that’s not it.” Nicole says. “It’s a bit of a long story.” Ichtaca shrugs.

“We’ve got a long way to go.” She says easily. “And I don’t know about you, but I’d love to take this time to get better acquainted.” Nicole smiles tiredly and begins. She tells Ichtaca about everything she discovered from in the past twenty four hours. It’s all very mechanical and seems rehearsed, as if Nicole is telling the story to herself and is still trying to believe it.

Nicole finishes her story and the two continue to talk all along the way to the edge of the infamous Forest of Illusions, their sentences becoming shorter and their words more biting. Unfortunately, their good moods after their initial meeting do not carry through the conversation. As if sensing their increasing hostility, Grape has hidden himself in the safety of Nicole’s hat. 

“Look, I mean no disrespect,” Ichtaca says, “but I really don’t see how you can speak so highly of your mother when she saddled you with all of these responsibilities. You’re still a kid! You didn’t even know how to make it to the mountain on your own! How could she have expected you to defeat her old enemy for her?” Nicole grumbles and tries to walk a few paces ahead, but Ichtaca catches up easily.

“She didn’t do any of this to me on purpose! The reason I’m out here is because my mom isn’t exactly capable of doing this herself.” She huffs. “Weren’t you listening to me? My mom might’ve played a role in how this all started, but she was tricked. She never meant for things to end up like this.”

“It just seems like such a bizarre failsafe! And why didn’t she just get rid of this person back when she had the chance? Would’ve put an early stop to the end of the world, that’s all I’m saying.” 

“My mom didn’t have it in her to take someone else’s life. She wasn’t some lowly criminal, unlike some people I know.” Nicole’s words are icy and Ichtaca bristles.

“It’s not like I steal as a hobby, miss witch. Even the poor and lowly have to eat.” Nicole scoffs.

“I’m sure you have your reasons, but you’ve got no right to talk about my mother like that when your parents couldn’t have been flawless themselves.” She tries in vain again to walk ahead of Ichtaca. “You’re trying to paint my mother like an irresponsible, cruel person for the situation I’m in, but you don’t seem too critical of your own parents who must have had some influence on where you are today.” Ichtaca laughs bitterly.

“Yeah, I would’ve tried to ask them to abandon me sooner. Maybe then I’d have ended up on a trip to the sea with a cute werewolf instead of a death mission with a stuck-up witch.” She snarks.

“I’m starting to think this partnership wasn’t such a great idea.” Nicole sighs.

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Ichtaca asks.

“Whatever, it was your idea, anyway.” Nicole says.

“Well, here’s a better idea.” Ichtaca points a hand to her left. “How about we save ourselves from more headaches and just go our own separate ways? You’ve got your map and I have my basic common sense. We should be fine on our own.” 

“Well, wait, hold on!” Nicole back tracks. “Even if we aren’t agreeing with each other, we should at least try to cooperate. The notes on this map say that the forest is “unmerciful”. That seems like something worth sticking together for.” Ichtaca gives a wry smile. 

“A bit late for that, I think.” She nudges Nicole, somewhat amicably. “Good luck on the other side! You’ll need it more than me.” she calls before she walks off into the dense woods. Nicole huffs and sets off on her own path, while Grape paces nervously around on her head.

It’s sometimes easy to get caught up in the moment and lose oneself to anger. Both of these girls are protective of their pasts an identities. Neither of them like criticism too well, and aren’t afraid to voice that away from polite society. Ichtaca made it forty paces in her path and Nicole stomped fifty paces down her path before they both turned around and looked to the woods around them with thick regret.

Nicole feels guilt pool in her stomach and wraps her arms around her middle in frustration. 

“Oh, what’s wrong with me? I should’ve known better than to be so rude to someone I’ve only known for a few hours. I better find Ichtaca before something else does.” She checks the map and follows any sound that might be man-made. Ichtaca groans and drags her hands down her face.

“God, I really got to work on my people skills.” She sniffs. “That was no way to treat a lady! Especially one who could turn me into an iguana if she felt like it!” She climbs to the tops of the trees to see if she can spot Nicole from a higher vantage point. 

Little did they know, they had already spent enough time in the forest to fall victim to its namesake, the infamous illusions. It hits Nicole first, only several minutes later. She’s walking forward, keeping an eye out for Ichtaca’s black cloak, when her view of the world turns sideways, then shifts. 

Suddenly, she’s no longer in the forest on this day. She’s sitting on a street corner at night. It’s windy and the chill bites into her skin, but she keeps on playing her harmonica with a cap on the ground in front of her, hoping to collect enough coin for tomorrow’s meal. Before she launches into the next song, a beautiful carriage stops in front of her and a child and his father walk out.

The little boy hops excitedly in place and points at her instrument while he tugs at his father’s sleeve. The father rolls his eyes and places a hand on his son’s head to calm him. Without any warning, he reaches forward and grabs the cold harmonica from Nicole’s little, freezing hands and drops it into the waiting fingers of his son.

The boy gives a cheer, as if he can’t see the horror on Nicole’s face. When she stands to take it back, the man holds her back with one arm while he ushers his son back inside the carriage with his other arm. When she gives one last desperate push forward, he tosses her back against the wall and she falls from the impact against the cold stone. The carriage drives away and Nicole can hear the little boy playing her harmonica while he laughs and laughs at his own awful music.

Up in the trees, a good distance away, Ichtaca falls from the branches with the force of her illusion. But when she stands up, she is pushed back down. Not by gravity this time, but by a rough pair of hands. She looks around her and notices that her limbs are shorter and she’s not as strong as she remembers. Ichtaca looks up and sees that she is caught in a circle of other kids who are all bigger and older than she is. She risks getting back back up and gets shoved back down, this time into a puddle.

All around her the kids jeer at her and call her awful names and tell her terrible, terrible things. She wants to fight back and she wants to scream and hit and kick. But as her eyes well up with hot tears, all she can do is run as fast as her legs will take her.

Back about one hundred paces to the right, Nicole’s sadness is replaced with anger and a strong need for justice. When her back no longer aches, she sets out, footsteps silenced by the wind, and follows the carriage. She has to run a few times to keep up with it, and she ducks behind a corner when it stops, an hour later, at an inn. She waits until after they walk inside, after they settle into their rooms, and after all the lights are out. Nicole sneaks in, and with a key from the inn-keeper’s chambers, she sneaks into their room.

 

It’s dark and the silence is broken only by soft snores. She tip-toes in and her eyes catch the glint of metal in the left wall of the room. There, Nicole finds her harmonica. She nearly gives herself away when she sees dozens more in an open case beside it. She looks over to the sleeping form of the boy as she seethes.

Selfish brat! What did he need her only possession for when he had enough harmonicas to share with all the children in town? Well, she resolves with a wry smile, if he wanted hers so bad, he could keep it. As she walks out of the room with the case of harmonicas, she decides it’s probably enough to feed herself and her friends for months. 

Nicole is broken from the illusion when she nearly walks off a steep ledge. Fortunately, Grape tugs her hair hard enough to pull her back on solid ground. She sits in a daze and tries to gain back her bearings.

Back to the left, Ichtaca is still running with tears blurring her vision and children chasing after her. She trips over a tree root and scrapes her front. The sounds of the other kids draw closer and closer, and all she can do is curl up and hope that she escapes their line of sight. But she hears one of them call out to the others when they spot her and the footsteps come closer.

When she feels like they have her cornered, a bright light shines behind her and all the children cry out in surprise. When the light dims, she looks up and sees a woman in a black dress and hat, looking down at the children with a stern expression. The ones that hadn’t fled at the light run for the hills when they see her. 

Once the are gone, her face softens as she looks down at Ichtaca. There is nothing but love and sympathy in her eyes as she walks forward, kneels down, and opens her arms. Without any hesitation, Ichtaca falls into her embrace and sniffles. Finally, the fear and judgement is gone and instead there is warmth and security. 

Her illusion shatters when she feels a sharp prick at her side and it’s as if she’s finally opened her eyes when she sees that she is trapped in the coiling grasp of a moving thorn tree. As she is pulled closer, the ground under the plant opens up like an earth jaw and the roots underneath are razor-sharp and spinning. She shouts at the top of her lungs.

Nicole is snapped back to her senses like a whip when she hears Ichtaca’s shout. She stands on shaky legs and runs in the direction of her voice and finds that Ichtaca is caught up by the thorn tree and is mere inches from the open soil. Nicole pulls her mother’s wand from her dress and points it at the tree, attempting to freeze it. Her lack of practice causes a weak flurry of snowflakes to shoot out, which slows the plant down, but doesn’t stop it. Ichtaca stops screaming when she notices the snow, and when her eyes meets Nicole’s, they shine with relief. 

Nicole pockets the wand and brings her hands out in front of her to form a tunnel. She says a quick spell and takes in a deep breath. Her exhale funnels through her hands and a thin, strong, steady stream of frost hits the thorn trees tendrils and spreads to the rest of the plant, stopping it before it can take Ichtaca. Nicole shivers momentarily and runs to Ichtaca, who is squirming to break loose. Now she uses the wand to chisel away at the frozen stem and breaks Ichtaca loose.

Ichtaca falls into her arms as she hauls her away from the tree and they collapse on the ground a few feet away. After they’ve had time to catch their breaths, they speak.

“Are you okay?-” “Thank you for saving me!” Their words overlap.

“I’m so sorry about earlier!” “I swear, I didn’t mean what I-” They stop, stare at each other, and begin to laugh as though they hadn’t almost died today. They untangle themselves from each other and Nicole helps Ichtaca to stand.

“Can we go back on our last agreement where we went back on our first agreement?” Ichtaca asks, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck. Nicole smiles, tired but with none of the earlier agitation.

“As long as our current agreement is that we stay together so that we don’t die in this forest, then I’m in agreement.” That gets a chuckle out of Ichtaca as hesitantly shake hands and continue walking into the forest, together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nichole and Ichtaca discover something about the illusions they both saw and Ichtaca learns about the unconventional nature of Nicole and her magic. Their new understanding of each other stirs some (un)expected emotions within the two. Nichole learns the hard way that her mother's timing was just a bit off.

The rest of their trek through the forest passes without incident. There are more sentient plants that try to lure them, with no luck. And they manage to pull each other out of more illusions before they can become too immersed. Grape alternates between both of their shoulders, which he finds easy since they are walking within no more than two inches of each other. 

Their next patch of forest to cross dips down into The Glowing Valley. The cover of the trees allows little light to reach the ground, but the luminescent plants and creatures keep the path visible in bright colors. Ichtaca and Nicole are too busy talking to each other to pay any mind to their surroundings just yet, now that they can afford to chat.

“Wait, you saw an illusion where you were a beggar and you had your harmonica stolen by some kid?” Ichtaca asks.

“Yes.” Nicole answers. “It was extremely vivid, too. I didn’t know the forest could be so powerful.”

“That wasn’t an illusion you saw.” Ichtaca says in wonder. “I think you saw a memory of mine from when I was a kid!”

“Really?” Nicole asks sympathetically. “Ichtaca, that’s awful! I’m so sorry that little boy did that to you. Now I see why it is that you did what you did and why it carried on.” 

“Hey, it’s fine, now!” Ichtaca dismisses, unused to the concern of others. “That “little boy” and his dad, a governor, chased me out of that town not long after I pawned off the harmonicas. But I made it out in one piece.” Her tongue pushes against the gap where her canine was, absently. “Mostly. Hey, do you think I saw one of your memories?”

“What exactly did you see?” Nicole asks.

“I was a kid, and there were all these other kids ganging up around me. They were saying some really nasty stuff, I still can’t believe what I heard! And I ran from them and before they could catch me, this really nice lady showed up and scared them away. And she hugged me and I felt like I was finally in the clear, but I got caught by that thorn tree.” When Nicole remains silent, Ichtaca looks up at her through her bangs. “You got bullied?”

“Yeah.” Nicole says, quiet.

“What did they say to you?” Ichtaca asks.

“Which time?” Nicole huffs a bitter laugh. “Ah, it doesn’t matter. That whole ordeal blends together into one big ugly spot in my life where I was tortured by kids who I wanted to be friends with.” Grape hops across the gap to land on Nicole’s shoulder and curls up beside her neck as an act of comfort. She smiles and pets him. 

“Why the hell would they do that?” Ichtaca asks, outraged. “I mean, god, Nicole, everyone gets picked on at some point, but those things they said were so… venomous! And you were so little!”

“I was pretty young, huh?” She hums. “And as for why: I used to go to the same school as those kids. They knew me before I… took the steps toward becoming a witch.” 

“Wait, I thought witches didn’t have to train to get their magic?” Ichtaca asks. 

“Most don’t.” Nicole’s eyes move away. “But I wasn’t born with the… physical anatomy required of born witches. If you know what I mean.” 

“You weren’t…” Ichtaca’s eyes widen in understanding. “Oh! Oh my god, they picked on you for that!? That’s so awful, you absolutely did not deserve any of the terrible things that they did to you!” 

“I know that now.” Nicole says. “And I did, back then, too. Although sometimes it was hard to, when they told when otherwise.”

“I know I haven’t known you for long, but all you gotta do is give me some names and I will show them what happens when you treat an innocent kid like that.” Nicole laughs a little at Ichtaca’s low tone. 

“I haven’t seen any of them in a full decade, Ichta.” she says. “And they were little, just like me. I don’t blame them for what they did. I’m not over it, of course, and I never want to see them for as long as I live, but they were kids.”

“I thought you were a witch, not a saint.” Ichtaca comments.

“No, here’s the thing!” Nicole defends. “When I first started dressing differently and practicing magic, they either didn’t care or didn’t have any bad reactions! But then they told their parents and then their parents told them how they felt about me. And then their parents told them how to feel about me.” Ichataca took a moment to absorb this before she spoke.

“And that lady who saved you?” She asks.

“That was my mom.” Nicole answers with a sad smile. “When she found out what the other kids were doing, she pulled me out of school and moved us far away. And she found out before they did, and she was devastated and furious when she saw how the town reacted. In one of her more impulsive moments, she sent swarms of lizards, geckos, frogs and an alligator into town.”

“Oh, I completely take back what a said about her earlier.” Ichtaca grins. “I like her.”

“Shut up.” Nicole laughs and nudges her weakly. “That’s not why she was great. She was… all that I had. And even after keeping me and raising me and protecting me, she still gave me this.” She reaches into her collar and pulls out the bottle necklace.

“...Glitter?” Ichtaca guesses.

“No, this is her essence.” Nicole admires the glint of the dust in the luminescent forest. “Before she died, she sealed her magic into this and bound it to me, so that I could be the witch I always knew I was.” 

“Wow…” Ichtaca gazes at the bottle, then at Nicole. “That’s really… amazing. That she did that for you.”

“It was.” Nicole agrees and puts the bottle back under her dress. They walk on in silence as they forest glows around them. So many heavy topics, so few words to properly address them or further analyze them. They are both still concerned and curious, but they have both dug-up enough old demons for one day. After a moment, Ichtaca turns to her.

“Did you call me Ichta earlier?” She asks, with a tilt of her head.

“Oh.” Nicole startles at her voice. “Uh, yeah. Sorry, was that not okay? I won’t do it again if-”

“No, not at all!” Ichtaca reassures her. “You’re fine. I’ve just never had a nickname before.” She smiles. “I like it!”

“Oh, good. I’ve never had one, either.” Nicole admits.

“That’s not fair, is it?” Ichtaca taps her chin. “How do you feel about Nicky?” 

“Hm.” Nicole shakes her head, and from her shoulder, Grape mimics her.

“Nico?” Ichtaca asks.

“Ew.” Nicole winces.

“Coly?” She tries.

“Even worse!” Nicole laughs and Grape chitters.

“That’s fair.” Ichtaca hums. “Maybe I could give you a nickname based on something about you.”

“Weren’t you calling me “miss witch” earlier?” Nicole asks.

“Yeah, but that won’t do. I said that when I was being an ass.” She snaps her fingers. “I could call you “beautiful”.” Nicole flushes.

“Please don’t make fun of me.” She says. Ichtaca raises an eyebrow at her.

“Why would I make fun of you?” She squints at Nicole, who tucks a strand of hair behind her ear self-consciously. “Do you really not know how pretty you are?” 

“What?” Nicole slows down.

“I know you don’t get out much, but hasn’t anyone else ever told you this?” Ichtaca asks, baffled.

“I - no?” She falters. “The baker and her family always pinch my cheeks and tell me stuff like that, but they’ve always done that since I was a kid.” 

“Wow, I guess you didn’t see the looks some people were giving you at the market.” Ichtaca says.

“The what?” Nicole gapes. 

“I even saw the herbalist give you a huge discount on your things. She winked at you, too.” Ichtaca laughs.

“Wh - huh?” Nicole struggles for something to say. “I thought she had something in her eye!” Ichtaca howls with laughter.

“Well, I can’t let this kind of thing go on any longer.” Ichtaca says with an impish grin. “From now on, I’m just going to call you different variations of “beautiful” until you get that through your head.” Nicole, unable to form more sentences, smacks her arm and hides her face with her free hand. 

The rest of their walk through The Glowing Valley is filled with more teasing banter that settles down once exhaustion sets in. Their steps slow down as their take their time admiring the bright, ethereal scenery around them. Nicole prepares a quick meal with her spices and the edible glowing mushrooms and bird’s eggs Ichtaca finds. They talk and eat and feed Grape little bits of their food. 

And if they sit closer together than absolutely necessary, neither of them mentions it. But this near to the mountains, the magic in Nicole’s necklace resonates with her old spells, and wakes a sleeping beast. They fall asleep too early to hear the distant crash of falling mountain rock, or see the figure responsible for the reopening of an old cave.

With more eggs, wild mushrooms, peppers and a sausage from home, Nicole makes breakfast for them in the morning. They get an early start and set off toward the mountain. Grape is slung over Ichtaca’s shoulder, still dozing.

“So this magic-stealing witch-killer has been asleep for eighteen years?” Ichtaca asks with a yawn. “How do we know they’re not already dead? Either from the inactivity or starvation.”

“The sleep spell doesn’t put the creature it’s cast on into a regular sleep.” Nicole says. “It’s more like… leaving them in a choma for a specific amount of time. But at the same time, it preserves their condition from the moment the spell was cast.”

“And how’s that work, exactly?” Ichtaca asks.

“Well, for example, if someone got cast with Sleep after they ate a full meal, they’d still be full if they woke up a year later. And if they got a cut before it was cast, the wound wouldn’t heal or get worse while they slept, no matter how much time passed.” She explains.

“Huh.” Ichtaca is about to ask another question, but she picks up the faint sound of rustling leaves, not too far. It’s louder than any sound the other critters they’ve seen have made. She slows down and holds on to Nicole’s hand, making her fall into step with her.

“What-” Nicole begins, but quiets when Ichtaca places a finger over her lips.

“Something found us.” She whispers. “I don’t know what, but it’s big and it’s catching up. Over here, quick.” She leads them to a thick shrub, where they duck into and stay crouching. After a moment, Nicole can hear the rustling, too. Whatever it is, it’s moving with a sense of purpose and direction. She picks Grape up and tucks him into her hat, to keep him from panicking. 

Out of the trees comes a hooded figure. The fabric that conceals them is dusty and tattered, but she would recognize it anywhere. Instead of gasping or crying out like she so desperately wants to, Nicole is rigid with fear and rage. Despite their caution and silence, they figure turns to the shrub that Nicole and Ichtaca are hiding in, as if they can see them. 

A moment of tense silence passes before the figure breathes out a quiet phrase, raises a hand and produces a growing ball of the same dark blue static from the dream. Ichtaca’s eyes widen in panic, but Nicole waits until the very last moment to grab her by the waist and pull the two of them out of the line of fire. The blasts sets the last of the shrub ablaze and the flames around it burn blue. 

“Go!” Nicole shouts to Ichtaca. “Get behind something! I’ll take care of this!” Ichtaca runs behind a nearby tree, but keeps watch of the scene in front of her. Nicole lifts her mother’s wand out of her pocket and aims it at the hooded figure. She creates a sturdy, but ill-aimed stream of frost which she tries to coil around them. The figure moves and launches flurry of small, fast static balls at her.

She holds the wand between both hands and casts Shield, which deflects the attacks. She starts to use one hand to cast a fireball to hurl at the figure. But her lack of practice with the wand causes her to lose her grip when the shield reverberates too strongly from the static. The protection before her flickers long enough for a static ball to breech and collide with her right shin.

She’s knocked down with a cry of pain and looks down to see patch of her skin with a second-degree burn. Nicole struggle to sit up and get away, and the figure charges a ball of static that grows to the size of a cantaloupe and begins to glow purple. Nicole does not make it to cover by the time the figure launches the ball at her.

She shuts her eyes tight and braces for impact, but is roughly shoved out of the way and rolls six feet away. When she opens her eyes, she sees Ichtaca, convulsing on the ground, eyes rolled back and screaming. It’s enough to get Nicole to shoot up on her feet and get a steady grip on her wand.

She grits her teeth and points it at the figure, whose hands are slightly burnt from the power of the static. She begins to recite her mother’s spell from memory, and feels the air change around her. Her loose hair rises like feathers in wind and the end of the wand glows with a bright, white light. It already feels more powerful than any spell she’s ever cast before.

Her opponent thinks better of lingering, and lifts off of the ground and sails away. From where she stands at the edge of the woods, Nicole can see the figure enter a cavern in the mountain. She shouts in frustration at the escape and sinks to the ground when the pain comes back. But that’s not her top priority right now.

She hurriedly crawls over to Ichtaca, who lies unconscious on the ground, still as a stone and just as cold. Grape finally, shakily comes out of her hat and jumps down beside Ichtaca, who’s fingers he nudges with his nose. Nicole presses two fingers to her neck and feels tears well up in her eyes when she finds no pulse.

“No!” She tries CPR and mouth to mouth, but cannot get breath back into Ichtaca. She screams, long and loud enough to echo through the valley behind her. She takes Ichtaca into her arms and buries her head into her neck, wobbling out apologies and pleas as her tears soak into Ichtaca’s hood. 

Then she feels Grape climb onto her lap and into her pocket. He crawls out with her mother’s letter in his mouth, which he drops onto the floor before he runs around it in frantic circles. Nicole shakily picks it up with one hand and reads through it, to see what he might be trying to tell her. When her eyes land on a particular sentence in the middle of the page, she gasps.

Before it was corrupted, Magic Transfer was used to heal and save lives. She doesn’t bother weighing the risks as she reached into her dress, pulled out the necklace, and spoke a spell to remove the Immovable Object spell on the cork. She pops it off, takes one look into the opening of the little bottle, and holds it and Ichtaca closer to her.

She had become skilled at coming up with new spells on the spot, when the situation called for it. This one would need more emphasis than a regular healing spell. She thinks hard for a moment and mouths the words before she closes her eyes and speaks.

“With the magic I’ve been granted, I call upon the energy and spirits within the forest behind and the valley around and the mountain ahead and the earth beneath. Lend me your blessing so that I may restore the life stripped from the innocent before me. I consent to the transfer of my own power to put light in her eyes and air in her lungs. I am your vessel and you are my fountain!”

She keeps her eyes closed, not daring to try her luck with the more reserved spirits, as she hopes that they assist her. A gust of wind blows at her and then all around her as she and Ichtaca are engulfed in an orb of energy. Nicole feels a pain worse than the burn, deep within her soul and vibrating through her limbs. 

After what feels like an eternity, the winds disperse and the air is still around them. Nicole cracks an eye open and looks down at Ichtaca, who lies limp in her arms. Quickly, she leans down and begins to laugh in joy and triumph when she feels Ichtaca’s breath against her face and her pulse on her neck. 

She has enough energy and sense left to grab a green salve from her hat and apply it to her leg before she collapses beside Ichtaca. Her mind goes blank. When she wakes, the first thing she sees is Grape tugging on one of her sleeves with his teeth. Then she sees Ichtaca, smiling down at her with watery eyes and a wobbling smile.

“Good morning, gorgeous.” She tries to sound upbeat, and fails when Nicole lunges for her and wraps her in a tight embrace. Ichtaca hugs her back just as tight and she can’t tell which one of them starts shaking first and whether it is from crying or laughing. It’s both, she realizes, when they draw back from each other and there a tear stains on both of their faces. “Are you okay?” Ichtaca asks. 

“I should be asking you that!” Nicole smiles and brings her hands up to cup Ichtaca’s face.

“But your leg was burned!” Ichtaca’s eyes are wide with concern and she brings a hand up to rest on one of Nicole’s. “And you look like hell. What happened?” Nicole tells her about the hooded figure fleeing to the mountain before she could finish charging her spell. She tells her about how she couldn’t find Ichtaca’s pulse and how she tried everything normal that she could. Then she tells her about the Magic Transfer she performed and how happy she was to have put the breath back in Ichtaca’s body. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to ask if it was okay to cast something on you before I did it, but-” 

“What in the world are you apologizing for?” Ichtaca asks, equal parts baffled and amazed. “You saved my life! You brought me back and - oh my god.” She reaches forward and picks up the bottle of Nicole’s necklace for the two of them to see. The cork is back on and it wasn’t tucked under her dress. 

Nicole’s gut lurches when she sees that half of the sparkling essence from the bottle is gone. That must have been what the pain was, she thinks. She focuses for a moment and senses that her magic has grown weaker. 

“I guess that’s what happens when you do it properly.” She says. 

“Nicole…” Ichtaca’s gaze is searching. “You really didn’t have to do that. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, obviously, but are you okay with what you gave up?”

“Of course!” Nicole says. “You didn’t hesitate to push me out of harm’s way, so there’s no reason for me to regret what I’ve done. You’re my friend, Ichta. The first one I’ve made in a long time. I couldn’t stand the thought of doing nothing and losing you.” Ichtaca stares at her with an unreadable expression before she hugs her again. This embrace is not desperate like the first. It is comforting and warm and almost hesitant.

“So, what now?” Ichtaca asks.

“Now, I’m going to go to the cave in the mountain and kill that monster before they can hurt any more innocent people.” Nicole says firmly.

“I think you mean “we”.” Ichtaca says. “You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna let you go up there all by yourself against a power-hungry son of a bastard. I’m not just gonna sit here and hope it goes well.” She stands and brings Nicole up with her. “How are you on your feet?” Nicole tests her leg. It’s sore, but it bears her weight. 

“I’m fine, but. Ichta, I don’t want to put your life in danger again!” She says. “If something happens to you again, I can’t be sure that Magic Transfer will work a second time.” 

“I’m aware of the risks.” Ichtaca smiles and huffs. “I was dead for a bit, after all. But this is bigger than me. This is bigger than both of us, Nicole. You’re the only one who can directly stop this snake and save other witches from having their magic stolen. But that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. I’m here for the long-haul, now.” There is no fear or dishonesty in her words. Nicole tries and fails to hold back a grateful sob.

She throws her arms around Ichtaca and presses a chaste kiss to her cheek. Nicole takes her hand and leads them away before Ichtaca can properly react. She kneels down and picks up Grape to put him in her hat. 

“That’s wonderful.” Nicole finally says. “Well, then, let’s get going.” And they head off to the mountain.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final confrontation. A valiant effort. Rest.

The path to the mountain is not the smoothest or the safest as the two hike up its uneven surface. Not for the first time in her life, Nicole wishes her mother had taught her how to ride a broom before she passed. Would have saved Nicole and Ichtaca from having to lean on each other for support or occasionally tripping or skidding down a few feet. 

“If only I could fly us to that stupid cave.” She laments. Ichtaca stops in her tracks.

“Oh my god!” She smacks her own forehead.

“What? Is something wrong?” Nicole asks, looking her over for any more sings of injury.

“No, I just figured out what about all of this seemed weird to me!” She looked at Nicole. “I swear, I completely forgot witches can do that! Wait, you can’t do that?” 

“Afraid not.” Nicole chuckles. “Any attempt I made to learn to ride a broom on my own was disastrous. From what my mom said, it’s like riding a horse. In the sense that it’s easy to get the hang of, provided you have someone experienced to teach you.”

“Ah.” Ichtaca says. “That’s a relief. Because if you were making us walk all the way through a perilous forest when you could have flown us, I’d have smacked you in payment for my aching feet.” Nicole laughs and bumps shoulders with Ichtaca. She is grateful for Ichtaca’s effort to lighten the mood before they reach the danger above. 

By the time they reach the level of the mountain where the cave is, the sun is three quarters of its way across the sky. They stop just a few feet from the mouth and share a nervous glance.

“Are you ready?” Ichtaca asks. Nicole nods.

“As much as I’ll ever be, I suppose. I’ll deal with the magic thief myself, I don’t want you to step into harm’s way for any reason, do you understand?” She asks with desperation.

“Then how else can I help?” Ichtaca asks.

“The bottles with the other witches’ essence should still be in that cave somewhere. My mom couldn’t find them back then, but I know this thief hasn’t figured out how to complete the transfer. Otherwise, we wouldn’t still be standing. Find them and keep them with your person. We can’t afford to deal with a much stronger enemy when my powers are already so weak.” Nicole says. Ichtaca nods and they both turn back to the cave and leave their supplies by the mouth.

Nicole takes the first step in and tries to get a feel for the inside of the cave. She closes her eyes and concentrates, but the walls of rock around her make things a bit harder to read. After a moment, she feels two different magic sources from either side of her. To her left is an unmoving source, strong enough to pick up but not strong enough to determine distance. To her right is something she notices first and it reminds her of the feeling she gets when she sees a hornet’s nest in the distance.

It’s volatile, just like her mother said the stolen magic would be. Seems that even the past years have done nothing to calm them. Nicole motions for Ichtaca to enter and she points her in the direction of the tunnel that leads right, which is the shorter one.

“The magic should be somewhere in there.” Nicole whispers as she creates an orb of light the size of an eyeball; thankfully, that much is still easy for her. “Take this and keep a lookout for any secret or hidden doors or latches where they might be hidden.” She hands over the light to Ichtaca, who looks at it in wonder as it rests an inch above the palm of her left hand. 

With her right hand, she reaches out and squeezes Nicole’s hand. She flashes her a quick grin which seems almost sweet in the soft light of the orb. Then she sets off, silent as the night, into the tunnel. Nicole reaches into her hat and brings Grape down to eye-level.

“How you holding up, buddy?” She asks. Grape twitches his nose and lightly scratches her palms, anxious. “Yeah, me, too.” She strokes her finger down his gray back. “Just stay quiet and, if that thief gets a hold of me, run away as fast as you can and get Ichtaca so you two can escape.” Grape squeaks his displeasure at her. “I know, but hopefully it won’t come to that.” She puts Grape back under her hat before he can complain anymore and he stays quiet once concealed. She takes a steadying breath and steps into the tunnel on the left with as little sound as possible.

She moves tentatively, deeper into the tunnel until she hears a sound. Nicole slowly peers around the corner and finds a makeshift room within the cave. There’s a cot, a smaller tunnel to the side, a low desk with ink, scrolls, and a candle for light. Most notably, the walls are completely covered in parchments with maps, spells, equations that form a kind of maze of writing. With a closer look, Nicole sees that what’s on the wall is more of a puzzle with a large, mostly blank parchment on the wall across from where she is hidden.

The few sentences at the top look as if they’ve been angrily crossed out and closer to the center of the page, there is a sketch of a human body with a witch’s hat atop of it’s head. There are notes and question marks and arrows around the margins, but it looks as if it’s an unanswered question. 

Nicole takes a step back when she sees the figure start to emerge from the tunnel with bottles in their arms. They hunch over the low desk and drop the bottles on its surface, wincing when they pick one up with a bandaged hand and pour it into a bowl. As the thief creates a sort of salve, Nicole’s eyes widen in realization when she sees the extent of the damage done to the thief’s hands when they remove the bandages.

She knew the thief hadn’t figured out how to transfer the other magic they’d stolen, but it seemed like their non-magic body could hardly handle what it already contained. That meant that even in her weakened state, this might work out for her after all! 

But, as if her mind had been read, the thief stands and aims a beam of static at her with no preamble. She dodges it in the nick of time and rolls out of the way. Unfortunately, the thief then aims the beam above her head and loosens rocks in a circle around her. The roof of the cave is not much taller than she is and she fears she may suffocate, but knows she cannot die like this after making it this far.

She takes out her wand and blasts a hole through to the other side of the tunnel, then uses her wand to pile the rocks against others to form a barrier. It takes a few seconds longer to charge than it should have but she makes it through with her arms crossed over her head to block falling rocks. Nicole reaches the tallest and largest part of the cave, not too far from the entrance. The walls and floors are scorched and jagged and she correctly assumes that this is where the thief practiced their powers. 

Nicole reaches into her hat and pulls Grape out again and looks at him very intently as she hears the thief break through the rock barrier.

“Go find Ichtaca and get yourselves somewhere safe. I’ll try to make this quick.” She doesn’t have to kneel down very low before Grape hits the ground running. She watches him head toward the right tunnel and grips her wand in her hand. She aims it in the direction the thief will charge in through and readies a fireball. She has to focus harder than usually would to make sure it’s big enough to do damage without filling the entire cave.

Nicole hears rocks tumble with an angry grunt and breaths out. When the first glimpse of the dark hood comes into view, she releases the flames. The thief raises their forearms to block with Shield, but they’re not quick enough. The force of the blast knocks them back and flames cover the lower half of their person. The Shield kept them safe enough and Nicole curses under her breath. With a strong wave of their hand, the figure blows out the fire clinging to their clothes, leaving smoking holes in their wake. 

In the time they took to recover, Nicole prepared another fire spell that would shoot a stream of flames at the thief. But the thief, while injured, was able to charge something else faster than she could. They stretch their hands to a spot above Nicole and blast a current of energy out of their still-bleeding palms to the stalactites that hang above. Luckily, Nicole doesn’t need anything fancy to defend herself. 

She murmurs something quick and reaches into her hat and pulls it back out when her fingers grasp an umbrella handle. She opens the umbrella just before the first stalactite hits and it bounces merrily off of the enchanted canopy. She made it to protect herself from heavy hail and was pleased to see that it did the trick here, as well. When the last of the stalactites fall and the thief grows frustrated, they aim their beam directly at Nicole. 

It’s not fire, ice, or static, but it carries a great force. She holds her umbrella in front of her and chants a quick Durability spell on the canopy. The beam pushes her back against the wall, but once the spell sets and she digs her heels into the ground. She takes slow steps forward and grins when she hears the thief grunt in surprise. With another quiet murmur, she casts Reflect on the canopy and the beam absorbs into the material of the umbrella until it glows in her hands. 

Again, the thief realizes too late what Nicole is doing because they do not manage to deflect before their energy reflects back from the umbrella’s point and knocks them against the wall of the cave. A growl rises from under the hood as the thief staggers to their feet. 

“Enough of these games!” They shout and Nicole is surprised to hear them finally speak. She puts the umbrella back in her hat as the thief rises and stretches a hand out to their right. “You’re going to tell me who you are, how you know of me, and why you have Nadia’s magic.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t have to tell you anything!” Nicole grits her teeth and readied her wand. The thief groans and removes their hood. It is a man, perhaps in his thirties, with bloodshot eyes and white hair at his temples. 

“If you wish to be difficult, I’ll have to do this the hard way.” He forms a fist with his hand and Nicole’s body tenses when she hears a scraping sound coming from the right tunnel. Only, when she turns to look, the scraping thing emerges through a hole just beside the tunnel. It is six rocks moving together as one with Grape thrashing around in the center of them. Nicole gasps and turns a heated glare to the thief.

“What have you done? Let him go!” She demands.

“I know a familiar when I feel one and you were sending this one for something, though I couldn’t hear what. I simply played tricks on his eyes and led him to a hole on the wall, where I planned to keep him until he became useful.” The thief smirks as he plucks a squirming Grape out from the rocks and holds him in his hand. “If you want your vermin back, you will answer my questions.” Nicole shot a worried glance at Grape and nearly bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

“My name is Nicole Charis. I am Nadia’s daughter and I am here to put an end to your plot against the witches of this land.” She says with a stern voice. The thief looks taken aback.

“You… just how long has she made my slumber? Why is she not here to face me herself?” The thief asks.

“Illness took my mother before she could take you herself.” Nicole says. “You have been in this mountain for eighteen years.” The thief staggers back in surprise.

“Eighteen… my, my. What a funny woman she was.” He says with a dark chuckle. “But, no that isn’t right. Nadia was carrying a son when I last saw her.”

“She thought so, too.” Nicole says, nerves filling her. Why did this man know that? He blinks at her as he takes in the information before he smiles like a serpent.

“Oh, I understand.” He says, far too smugly.

“I’m positive you don’t.” Nicole does not appreciate his tone.

“I’ll admit, it’s pure genius what you’ve done.” His smile widens. “She always was very easy to take advantage of, what with such a bleeding heart.”

“What are you talking about?” Nicole does not follow.

“Oh, come, now. It’s only us two in here. What have you to be shy for?” He runs his thumb across Grape’s head and Nicole’s blood boils. “You put up the only act that would cause Nadia to just grant you her powers like that, knowing full well that she’s weak to creatures in need. How did I not think of that, myself?” 

“Act?” Nicole gasps in outrage when his words catch up to her. “There is no act to speak of, you slime! I am who I am with or without my magic and my mother knew that my feelings are true and that my intentions were not corrupted as you seem to think they are. For you to suggest that I would lie about my gender just to swindle something from my own mother is beyond disgusting!” The thief was unphased by the venom in her voice.

“Oh, and I suppose this is all just an interesting coincidence?” He raises an eyebrow. 

“Call it what you want, worm.” She says. “Whatever falsehoods you hold about me will die with you.” The thief has the audacity to chuckle.

“Yes, you are certainly Nadia’s child.” He sighs and looks to Grape with disappointment. “If only your friend back there hadn’t jumped in the way and perished. She would have made much better collateral than a rat, right about now.” At the mention of his name, Grape tries to wriggle free once again, only to be held frighteningly tighter by the thief. Nicole jerks forward with a hand outstretched.

“Don’t you dare hurt him!” She demands. The thief’s eyes widen marginally.

“Perhaps he will do, too.” He looks at Grape with a stronger sense of appreciation. “Seems you inherited your mother’s silly sympathy. Shame. For a moment, I thought you would be more like me.” 

“I am nothing like you!” She bites out. “Release my familiar or I will collect him from your corpse!” 

“Is that so?” The thief drawls. “And I wouldn’t be so sure you were nothing like me. After all, it seems you got your longing for power from me, as well as my bone structure.” 

“What the hell are you going on about, now, filth?” Nicole thinks him mad. He growls at the insult.

“Foolish child! Didn’t your mother teach you to read between the lines? I am trying to tell you that I am just as much your parent as she was!” He says with no hint of a lie or a joke. His sincerity shakes Nicole, but she refuses to believe him.

“First you think I’m as awful as you, and now you think I’m an idiot.” She scoffs. “My mother wouldn’t become amicable with the likes of you.”

“But she did.” The thief grins and Nicole hates him even more. “Bleeding heart, remember? Most witches are suspicious and untrusting, but I convinced Nadia that I was just a humble warlock in training, curious to learn about the fascinating lives of her sisters. And, oh, the things I learned. It didn’t take long to discover Magic Transfer and I believe I began my work on it shortly after you were conceived. Of course, your mother figured me out before I could find a way to absorb those witches’ magic without bursting like a tomato filled with a firework. And, well, the rest is history.” Nicole cries out and her fury echoes through the many tunnels of the cave. She points her wand at him and readies her stance.

“You miserable whelp!” She screams, all anger and disgust. “My mother may have made the mistake of trusting you once upon a time, but she has equipped me with a way to crush you like the insect you are. I regret to inform you that the similarities between you and me begin and end with our blood.”

“It’s “you and I”.” He corrects her snidely. “If you’re going to threaten me, do it properly.” She begins to murmur her mother’s spell from memory but her voice cuts off when she hears a pained little screech from Grape. The thief’s knuckles are tight around his small body.

“Let him go!” She demands once again. He huffs a laugh and runs a thumb over Grape’s head again.

“Do you know what? I don’t think I will.” His next snide remark is cut off by a sharp cry of pain as Grape musters the strength to bite down hard on his raw, exposed palms. His hand spasms open and Grape leaps out and lands on the ground four feet away from him. The thief cradles his hand to his chest as he stumbles back and before he hits the wall, it’s as if a figure melted from the shadows to grab a hold of him. The shadow steps out into the light and Nicole sees the lines of Ichtaca’s face. 

“Ichta!” Nicole calls out in relief. Ichtaca flashes her a quick grin as she secures the thief into a headlock.

“What?!” The thief chokes out. “But you’re supposed to be dead!”

“And you’re supposed to be rotting in a cell with only roaches and mice for company!” Ichtaca replies. “Nicole, catch!” And she tosses a moving burlap draw bag to Nicole, who catches it with her free arm and opens it. She gasps in joy and wonder when she sees seven bottles, much like the one around her neck, each with different colors of magic essence inside of them. 

Unlike hers, however, the magic is still unstable and it jerks each bottle and knocks them into each other. The thief catches the movement and his eyes widen.

“Impossible!” He shouts. “How could you have solved my puzzle? How did you find my puzzle?!”

“What, like it was hard?” Ichtaca snorts as she pulls a dagger out from her belt and presses its blade against his neck. “I found where they were hidden after you two shook the mountain loose. And that “puzzle” was very easy to break.” 

“What do you mean, break?!” The thief demands, flabbergasted.

“It was really old, I could barely read what it said, anyway. Something about thunder? It was like opening a locked door.” She shrugged. The thief growls in frustration and struggles in vain. Ichtaca adjusts her hold and faces Nicole. “He’s all yours.” She says.

Nicole nods and crouches down to pet Grape’s head as he teeters toward her. 

“I’ll fix you up in a minute, buddy, just sit tight.” She takes a deep breath, grips her wand, squares her shoulders, and speaks her mother’s spell with confidence from the beginning. 

“Hear me, noble witches lost to greed and hunger. I am here to avenge your deaths and strike down the one guilty of your demises. As the good earth is my witness, I shall see you all freed and given your peace. I offer you my body as a vessel for your vengeance and my strength for your will. You will know rest as the guilty will know pain!” 

The instructions in the spell told her that she would see a point of energy on her wand when the spell was charged, and now Nicole sees a ball of light, much like the one she had made for Ichtaca, grow on the end of her wand. It glows fiercely as it forms a thin stream and enters the burlap sack.

The light lengthens and curls around each of the shimmering, shaking bottles, which seem to move more fervently now. The thief looks on in fear and Ichtaca watches in wonder as she maintains her hold on him. 

Seven bottles rise from the bag and circle around Nicole, their movements closer to a vibration. Once they arrange themselves evenly around her, each of their corks pops off their tops and they glow and glimmer with the light from the spell. Nicole feels her expression soften in awe as she watches a shining grain of essence rise from each bottle and draw close to her.

They glow so bright that their colors are no longer visible as they move in on Nicole neck. In response, she feels her own magic thrumming through herself and her own bottle shines through the fabric of her dress. The grains move through the fabric and she can feel the glass of the bottle heat up with their raw energy.

Everything within the next moment becomes a blur of motion as the lights becomes blinding and the grains set to work doing… something. An impossibly bright light glows from her bottle and Nicole cries out in pain as she feels a searing pain from the heat against her skin. 

But in a blink, the pain is replaced with a simple, new weight. Nicole’s breath catches in her throat when she looks down and sees that the fabric of her dress above the bottle is missing, creating a sort of keyhole neckline. And with the exposed skin, she sees a dark, glimmering jewel embedded in her flesh. 

She gapes at it as she realizes that the glass of the bottle, her mother’s essence, and the seven grains have come together to form this smooth stone that sits proudly under her collarbone. Nicole also realizes that her magic feels so much stronger now than it ever has before. A grunt breaks her out of her reverie and she sees that in the commotion, the thief had gotten free of Ichtaca.

He stands and raises his bleeding palms with beads of sweat covering his face. With his scowl and panicked eyes, he paints a sickening image. When Nicole caught him trying to raise his arms, she simply extends a hand and he is frozen in place. Ideas and voices flow through her head that were not her own as the bottles began to spin around her, and suddenly, she knows what to do.

“You wanted this magic so badly that you were willing to kill for it, huh?” She raises her other hand and the bottles still and align themselves in front of her. “Well, take it!” She thrusts her hands forward and the bottles tip over in the air. The essence from inside each bottle rushes out of them and flies toward the thief, who is no longer paralyzed by Nicole, but his own terror. 

A mint green current of magic flies into his chest and he grips at where it entered, still panicked. Then essence that is yellow like sunflowers enters him in the same way. And before he can run or deflect, a silver current comes at him. Then indigo, then rosy pink, then navy blue. Finally, the red essence flies to him and the power knocks him to the ground. 

He is shaking on the ground as he curls up in a ball and shuts his eyes and grits his teeth and clenches his fists. After a moment of violent shakes, he lets out an ear-splitting shriek and when his eyes open, so does his mouth. And, as if a star is exploding within him, a kaleidoscope of colors shines out of his wide eyes and gaping mouth.

When his screaming rises a full octave, Nicole has the sense to snatch Grape off the ground and run to Ichtaca to grab her. Nicole takes them both back into the right tunnel that Ichtaca had found the bottles in. 

“In here, quick!” She shouts over the screaming. “Duck your heads down!” She holds Grape in both of her hands and curls around him. Ichtaca crouches down beside her and tucks her head in the junction between Nicole’s neck and shoulder. The thief’s cries rise in volume and whatever is happening to him is no longer visible to Nicole but it is strong enough to shake the mountain.

Suddenly, there is a burst of light Nicole can see through her shut eyelids and the screaming ceases. After a few tense moments of silence, Nicole cracks her eyes open and raises her head. Grape softly chitters in her hands and Ichtaca moves away from Nicole.

“Is it over?” She whispers. 

“Let’s hope so.” Nicole says as she slowly rises. She makes her way back down the tunnel with Grape trembling and Ichtaca following. They turn the corner and peer around the tunnel wall. There are robes and a scorched spot against the wall where the thief once stood. Broken glass from the bottles is scattered around the floor with no remnants of essence to be found.

“What happened?” Ichtaca asks, surveying the vastly empty cave. “Where is he?” 

“He’s gone.” Nicole says. “I didn’t know exactly what the spell would do when I first read it, but I knew what came next as soon as this,” she points to the new gem on her chest, “happened.” 

“Incredible.” Ichtaca gazes at it reverently and Nicole has to fight a blush. 

“Thank you! Uh, I don’t know if you heard what he said earlier, but he mentioned that he couldn’t figure out how to transfer the magic into himself without exploding like a tomato stuffed with a firework, so.” She shrugged. “It was their decision, the witches, not mine. I only gave them the freedom they needed.” 

“So why the new decoration, then?” Ichtaca asks as she runs a finger down the length of the gem. This time really can’t help but flush red.

“Oh! That! Ah, well.” She clears her throat. “I guess I wasn’t strong enough on my own to accomplish it, so they lent me some of their own power to help. Very generous of them, wouldn’t you say?”

“Definitely.” Ichtaca says. “I’m sure you could have done it on your own, though. You’re the most impressive witch I’ve ever meet, hands down.”

“Aren’t I the only witch you’ve ever met?” Nicole asks with a smile. Ichtaca grins back.

“That doesn’t make it any less true.” She says and Nicole laughs a little hysterically. “You okay?” Ichtaca places a steadying hand on her shoulder.

“Well, I found out my dad was an enormous, power-hungry, murderous asshole, which my mom never mentioned. Also I just killed my dad.” She raises a finger optimistically. “But I just stopped a catastrophe and freed the magic essence of seven innocent witches, so there’s that!” Ichtaca gapes at her.

“That was you dad?!” She nearly screeches.

“Oh, I guess you weren’t there for the big reveal.” Nicole comments. “To answer your question: I’m alive and whole and I accomplished my task. Also, I don’t have to worry about being seperated from my magic again, so that’s neat! There’s a lot to unpack from today and I’m still pretty sore, so if I could just-” she sinks onto the ground beneath her and lays flat on her back, “That’s better.”

Ichtaca huffs and moves to lie down beside her. Grape crawls to lie on her stomach.

“And I thought I had complicated family issues.” Ichtaca nudged her shoulder. “Will you be alright?” Nicole sighs.

“With time.” She says. 

“What now?” Ichtaca asks.

“Well, I think I should like to take everything from this cave and present it to the witches on the other side of the mountain to finally clear my mother’s name and let them know I took care of it.” She shrugs. “And who knows what else I’ll find there. Maybe I’ll finally learn how to ride a broom.”

“So, ah,” Ichtaca begins with some nervousness, “is this where we part ways?” 

“Not if you don’t want it to be.” Nicole looks at Ichtaca with some hesitance of her own. “I don’t plan on heading to the witch village right away, you know. I’m going back to my cottage. I think I’ve earned some time off. You’re welcome to accompany, if you like.” 

“I’d be positively delighted to.” Ichtaca smiles and Nicole smiles back. 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to move like before for a while, so you’ll have to help me out with some of the house work.” Nicole says. “I’ll pay you for your services, of course.”

“Yeah, I get it, you like me.” Ichtaca’s smile widens and Nicole laughs. “Well, I’m perfectly able, so I’m going to loot this place for valuables and then I’ll try to find any veins of ore available before it gets dark out.” And, sure enough, the sun only an hour or so away from setting. Ichtaca leans down and places a quick kiss to Nicole’s forehead, causing her to grumble at the loss of contact when she stands.

Ichtaca spends some time looking through the various tunnels for any more hiding spots that may be exposed as Nicole slowly but surely gains the energy to sit up, disrupting Grape. She winces when she notices his state and remember his pain.

“Here, buddy, let’s get you cleaned up.” She scoops him up. “Let’s get you fixed up.” Nicole manages to crawl to the mouth of the cave and grabs a bowl, water, soap, and a towel from her hat. She sets everything up and begins to gently scrub the grime and matted blood from Grape’s fur. Nicole towels his fur dry before she checks him over and casts a light healing spell on him to ease his pain.

While he dozes off on the towel, Nicole sees Ichtaca walk toward her with a jangling nap sack.

“This guy had some nice jewelry!” She says as she sets the bag down next to Nicole. “Do you mind if we stick around for another day so I can get some more from the mountain before we head to yours?” 

“Sure thing.” Nicole says. “I’m useless for travel for the time being, anyhow.”

“Should I set up camp for the night?” Ichtaca asks. “I don’t know if you’d like to try to find a different cave where, uh… so many things didn’t happen.”

“I’ll try my luck, tomorrow.” Nicole says. “But it’s dark now and I’d just like to eat something before I pass out.” Ichtaca laughs in response.

“I suppose you’ve earned that much.” She says and Nicole tries to swat at her, but Ichtaca steps out of the way and laughs again. After about fifteen minutes, Ichtaca, with a hand-made fire and supplies from Nicole’s hat, serves them roasted vegetables and quail. Grape is roused from his sleep by the crackling of the fire and he nibbles on warm slices of carrots and squash. 

Promptly after the meal, Exhaustion overtakes Nicole and she crawls into her sleep sack and closes her heavy eyelids.

“Good night.” She mumbles. Ichtaca leans down once again and soundly kisses her cheek.

“Until morning.” She replies and readies her own blankets. 

And as bone-tired as Nicole is, she can’t help but think back to the spell she performed just over an hour ago and how the knowledge of her next step just came to her unprompted. She was not cocky enough to think that she had just come up with it on her own and thought that it was probably there among the scattered words she caught from the other witches when they lent her their grains of essence.

But as she reflects on it, she silently hopes and believes that this is what her mother meant when she said she would guide her during her journey. It’s a comforting, if bittersweet thought, and it’s the last thing to pass through her mind as she slips into a deep slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought up this character over two years ago and finally figured out a story and writing style that I wanted to pair her with and I'm so proud of myself for doing this the way that I did! If you made it this far, thank you for reading the whole damb thing! That's really cool of you and I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of it or any questions you may have that weren't answered.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcome!


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